As noted earlier, Don Boudreaux and the Fraser Institute released a new book called The Essential Hayek.  The book is quite short (only about 70 pages), but contains a lot of good information.  But first, some background:

Friedrich August von Hayek is one of the major economic and philosophical thinkers of the 20th Century.  However, his works aren’t easily accessible; his writings can be difficult to understand (and not just because of the language, as a former professor of mine likes to say 🙂 ).  As such, his insights into economic and social organization can be lost.  Don attempts to organize and summarize his insights to make them accessible to the layman.

The fist thing to note about this book is it is a summary of Hayek’s insights.  Don offers very little commentary on the ideas, rather he tries to explain them.  If the reader wants context or commentary, he’ll be disappointed by this book (although there is a list of suggested readings if that is the reader’s goal).  But these are summaries.  There is little deep detail or long-winded explanations.  Essentially, this is an introduction to Hayek’s work; Don’s goal was to create an introduction, and he succeeded.

There is a lot of good information in this book, and it leaves the reader wanting more.  For those who wish to learn more about Hayek’s ideas, this is a good starting point.  But it is just that: a starting point.  Enjoy!